The number of airplane passengers has increased steadily over the past decades, and this in combination with increasing public focus on measures to prevent terrorism, industrial espionage and other crime amplify demands on security systems, including systems for restricting access to certain high-risk zones, such as airplanes, airport departure terminals, court houses, public administration premises, production facilities, and even schools.
Traditionally, an access-restricting security check point comprises a conveyor belt running through an x-ray tunnel, through which carry-on items, such as hand luggage, are conveyed while a security officer monitors the x-ray images obtained. At the same time, the person, who is the owner of carry-on items being x-rayed, may walk through a metal detector, and an optional manual search for weapons, explosives or drugs is typically carried out subsequently. The person is finally united with his/her carry-on items beyond the security check point, i.e. within the restricted zone.
In order to ensure proper x-ray imaging, it is often required that laptops are removed from the owner's luggage and placed in a separate tray away from the luggage, and other items, such as shoes, belts, wallets and containers for liquids are often x-rayed separately as well.
The flow of passengers through a security check point in an example of a prior art airport terminal is illustrated by arrows in FIG. 1. As shown, the passengers initially pass a control check point, at which the passengers' id and/or boarding cards are checked or verified. Subsequently, the passengers queue at a security check point 100, comprising, in the example shown, four x-ray imaging scanners 102 at four parallel security check lines. At the downstream side of the security check point 100, the passengers may pick up a miniature luggage trolley for their hand luggage and optionally further items shopped at the security-restricted zone of the airport departure terminal.
The flow of persons 110 and their carry-on items (not shown) in the prior art security check point system 100 of FIG. 1 is generally depicted in FIG. 2. The check point comprises an overhead x-ray imaging scanner 102 positioned over a conveyor belt 104. The carry-on items may be placed directly on the belt 104, or in trays 106 conveyed along the belt and recycled via recycling conveyor 108. A first security officer 112 monitors the output images of the x-ray scanner 102, a second security officer 114 performs an optional manual search or scanning of persons 110, and a third security officer 116 ensures proper placement of emptied trays 106 onto the recycling conveyor 108. A stationary metal detector 118 is provided for detecting metal objects at the body of persons walking there through.
The above-mentioned security measures do not only lead to delays in the flow of persons through a security check point, but also put a significant cost burden on airport operators, and ultimately on the passengers. Further, persons who have completed a security check, frequently forget to assemble all of their belongings, and the risk of theft is imminent on the downstream side of a security check point.
It is accordingly an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide a method and a system, which promotes the flow of persons through a security check point. It is a further object of embodiments of the invention to provide a system and a method, which reduces the degree of inconvenience experienced by the users passing through a security check point.